Georgetown to Offer Edge in Admissions to Slave Descendants

According to the New York Timesarticle, “The university’s president, John J. DeGioia, who will discuss steps to atone for its past in a speech on Thursday afternoon, also plans to offer a formal apology, create an institute for the study of slavery and erect a public memorial to the slaves whose labor benefited the institution, including those who were sold in 1838 to help keep the university afloat.”

In his op ed in the same issue, David J. Collins, associate professor of history at Georgetown University and chairman of its working group on slavery, memory and reconciliation, makes clear the centrality of slavery in America’s history and our responsibility. “Slavery is our history, and we are its heirs. America would not be America except for its deplorable history of slavery.”